Spike Island Associates is a professional development network for artists, curators, designers, writers and producers at all stages of their careers. Members span multiple disciplines and share a common interest in collaboration, experimentation and a desire to learn new skills.
From September 2025, we’re excited to introduce a new thematic approach to the Spike Island Associates programme. It will be developed in dialogue with the seasonal exhibitions taking place in our galleries. Our Autumn 2025 programme, Rooting / Uprooting, reflects on issues of displacement, grief and resilience, their intersections with post-colonial geographies, and our entangled relationships with more-than-human worlds.
Alongside our core offer of professional development, the thematic programme will activate research questions and rehearse ideas and methodologies inspired by our exhibition programme. We see Spike Island Associates as a site for collective knowledge production where artists, curators and creatives come together to explore contemporary critical debates and artistic practices.
Events include:
- One-to-one meetings and group crits with artists, curators, and critics from across the world
- Reading and discussion groups
- Practical skills labs on writing, fundraising, bookkeeping, and marketing
- Thematic talks and workshops engaging with current contemporary art discourses and practices
- Away days to galleries, museums, and art festivals across the UK
Recent guests include: Pio Abad, Larry Achiampong, Olivia Aherne, Linnéa Bake, Simeon Barclay, Amrita Dhallu, Sean Edwards, Leyla Fakhr, Deborah-Joyce Holman, Taylor Le Melle, Maggie Matić, Kim McAleese, Jade Monserrat, Harold Offeh, Shy Bairns, Lucy Stein, Eliel Jones, Sim Panaser, Rianna Jade Parker, Angela YT Chan, Alice Theobald, Adham Faramawy, Melanie Manchot, Alberta Whittle, and Abbas Zahedi.
Associates will also take advantage of events organised through our membership to the Kaleidoscope Network – a collaboration with Eatside Projects, Birmingham; Primary, Nottingham; The NewBridge Project, Newcastle; and BLOC Projects, Sheffield.
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